Code Lyoko, The Forgotten Warrior Trilogy Story 2, Cost of Redemption
by Toa andrew
Summary: The Lyoko Warriors continue their struggle against the Maniacal X.A.N.A alongside their new friend Andrew. Liberated from a life of loneliness and hatred, Andrew has finally discovered what it is like to have friends. But X.A.N.A will not take their new strength lightly. With enough force, his new foe can be broken...
1. Chapter 1 - Life Rewritten

In the lifeless depths of the world's most advance super computer, something stirred. The tyrant that inhabited the core programmed its next move. A new development had arisen, a new strength for its enemies. Strength, it believed, that could become a weakness. It had delayed its last attack to observe, to calculate. Its foes had been distracted; it was this distraction that intrigued it. Unstable, alone; it would be possible. A rising hero, all it had to do was clip its wings. With a new tower chosen to command, X.A.N.A was unleashed.

"So, how many shots do you reckon?"

"One each if we're quick."

"Willing to bet on that?"

"Definitely, but don't miss on purpose."

The Ice sector of the Virtual world of Lyoko was swarming with Kankrelats. The red glow of the tower ahead marked X.A.N.A's presence, this was his kingdom and no intruder would stay for long.

"Time for 'Operation soaring bolt!'" Odd Della Robbia gave a thumbs up to his new battle brother.

They stood away from the ice block they hid behind. Hearing their footsteps, two Kankrelat's pivoted on the spot instantly, but they would have no chance to find a target. The Lyoko warriors dived sideways away from the ice block and aimed their weapons whilst in mid-air.

"Laser arrow!" They shouted in unison. With one laser arrow from Odd and one Lighting Arrow from Andrew, the two Kankrelat's were reduced to virtual dust.

"Nice shot, although mine was more on target." Odd was as far up the modesty scale as Nicholas was on his IQ. "AndI don't need a targeting reticule for a perfect shot!"

"Of course not Odd, you just have to waste four arrows before you hit." He wasn't getting the better of Andrew.

"In case you haven't noticed you two, Ulrich and Yumi are surrounded by crabs and Aelita's not getting any closer to the tower without your help." Jeremy Belpois instructed the warriors from the laboratory back on Earth.

Odd rolled his eyes. Andrew shrugged his shoulders in agreement and the two boys headed off to meet with their friends in peril.

"At least this should give those two some time to make up!" Odd spoke while panting as they ran.

"They're not arguing again are they?" Andrew asked before receiving a laser shot from a pursing crab.

"Andrew you have twenty life point left." The voice of 'God' spoke over the microphone.

"Yep I can feel that thanks Jeremy." Andrew punched the icy floor and stood back up.

"Let the real pro deal with it. Laser arrow!" Odd hammered three shots into the Crabs tough hide.

"Why does their eye symbol have to be on their back?" Odd moaned in frustration.

"So I can do this…" Andrew dived over Odd in a somersault. Pressing his bow he revealed another arrow from its secret compartment, lowered his targeting reticule over his right eye and aimed straight down. The arrow flew the short distance and ended the crab. Andrew landed perfectly behind the pixelated cubes that were once a monster. He stared at Odd.

"Shut up." Odd grunted, turned away and ran to Ulrich and Yumi's aid.

The duo was directly in front of the Tower, as were the remaining two crabs. The huge, red monsters continued to open fire and dodge Yumi's razor sharp fan. Ulrich ran directly underneath one as it stomped at him into the ice. Ulrich was much too quick and with the beast's leg now trapped in the frozen floor, Ulrich pierced its underbelly with his Katana.

"Better hurry or they'll be finished before we get to blow any up!" Odd called back to Andrew as they continued to run.

"Is this always a game to you Odd? Wait, what am I saying?" Andrew pulled out of his question; everything was a game to Odd.

With one crab to go and four warriors still on Lyoko, it looked as if X.A.N.A would have his work cut out for him from now on.

"Leave the last one to me." Odd pushed Yumi aside lightly.

"Laser arr- huh?" The crab had already been sliced by Yumi's fan.

"Better luck next time cat boy." She pushed him back with her elbow.

"Don't diss the outfit."

Lyoko's guardian, the virtual girl Aelita was clear and so headed into the tower.

"Well, another attack dealt with." Ulrich stretched. Even on lyoko you had to keep in shape.

"How long was that one Jeremy?" Yumi spoke towards the virtual sky.

"Four minutes, twenty three seconds. Huh, a new record. Nice one guys." Jeremy clapped.

"I have to admit, since Andrew joined us last month it's almost been too easy!" Odd playfully hit Andrew on the arm.

"You call sludge monsters, electrified fences and gas explosions easy?" Andrew pointed out.

"Well… easy on Lyoko anyway."

The group fell into an awkward silence. No monster was in sight and there was nothing else left for them to do. This strange peace was unheard of to them. It was true that Andrew's presence in the group had meant X.A.N.A attacks were stopped at a much faster pace. Unfortunately because of this, X.A.N.A had upped his game. The Lyoko warriors looked towards the tower as the dome of light covered the virtual world, sending it into the past.

The group was smothered by the return to the past and the rest of the world followed. Before they knew it they were all enjoying a warm drink by the dispenser on campus, just as they had the morning before.

"I think our recent victories call for a toast!" Odd held up his cup of hot chocolate.

"Figuratively or literally Odd? I never can tell with you." Ulrich asked him before raising his.

The group tapped their cups together, a couple spilling some onto the floor in the process.

"To X.A.N.A's latest pest!" Odd said before grinning. "Let's hope he has many monster mashing days ahead of him."

Jeremy was not so wishful.

"Let's hope not Odd, by my calculations I'm only weeks away from finishing Aelita's virtualisation program, and when she's on Earth with us it's bye-bye X.A.N.A." Jeremy took a sip of his drink.

"You said that last month Einstein." Ulrich noted.

"Yes, I did, but that's before I discovered the flaw I'd made in the D.N.A matrix. This time I've re-routed Aelita's D.N.A sample to be more compatible with-" Jeremy was cut off my Yumi.

"Not to be rude Jeremy, but I have Biology next and that's going to be boring enough."

Jeremy would often get sucked into his own little world and forget that everyone around him had no clue what he was going on about, besides Andrew of course but even he only had the faintest idea.

"Anyway…. It's nice to see the change in you Andrew since when we first met last month." Jeremy changed the subject.

Andrew thought back to how he had eventually become one of the group. He was alone then and had never known what it was like to have a friend, and suddenly four, and a virtual one had come along at once. Over the past month he had also learnt more about the group he now spent most of his time with. It had been Jeremy that had found the super computer over a year ago when he was looking for spare parts for his DIY robots. It was Jeremy that had awoken both Aelita and X.A.N.A on Lyoko (curious enough Aelita had no memory of her creator or even who she was) and it had been Jeremy that had brought the group together united against a common foe.

Andrew had also learnt a lot about the relationship between his friends. Ulrich and Yumi both had a 'thing' for each other but neither was brave enough to admit it. Jeremy was developing a fondness for Aelita, something that the group found cute, sad on Jeremy's part and just a tad creepy. Even still, Aelita had expressed her joy of talking to Jeremy just as much as Jeremy had about talking to her, so maybe Aelita was capable of more emotions than they knew. In the case of Odd Della Robbia, well he had asked almost every girl at Kadic out and eventually been rejected or dumped by all of them. The most infuriating relationship however was Sissi. She had developed a crush on Ulrich ever since she had met him at the start of their first year. The group had tried to shake her off but her self-obsessed manner always brought her back, even if Ulrich was rude to her.

"You alright there Andrew?" Ulrich shook him on the shoulder lightly.

He had fallen into a day-dream for a second.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just thinking of how we first met."

It had only been a month but the bond X.A.N.A's attacks had formed between them had never been stronger. Even Jeremy was now comfortable with Andrew being in the group and touching the super computer. He had even started to show Andrew how to use the virtualisation software in case of emergency. His first attempt was less than impressive and was something Odd wished he could erase from his memory…

"Even with a new warrior in the group I have to say X.A.N.A has been on the assault more than often as of late." Jeremy was concerned of how it could be possible. X.A.N.A had always taken his time to reawaken and launch an attack, everything had to be perfect and he had to find a way of hacking into or bypassing certain security systems depending on his motives.

"Maybe X.A.N.A's getting more powerful? Or maybe he feels backed into a corner now there are four of us?" Yumi suggested.

Jeremy puzzled for a moment.

"I don't know Yumi, but whatever it is we should all be on our guard. We have no idea what X.A.N.A could be up to next."

They all downed the rest of their drinks.

"Well, seeing as the return to the past has skipped past our lessons to the end of the day, I'm heading up to my room to work on the virtualisation program." Jeremy looked in his backpack to make sure his laptop was safe as Odd cheered about not having to repeat maths.

Afterwards Odd yawned loudly and stretched outwards. "And seeing as I'm exhausted after all that crab cooking, I think I might take a quick nap in the dorm."

"Quick? Make that three hours by last times count." Ulrich followed him off towards the dorms, as did Jeremy and Andrew.

"I'm going to head off home and do my maths homework." The group waved to Yumi as she headed off campus.

"I might as well follow you guys; I left one of my drawings in Jeremy's room anyway." Andrew decided to spend some more time with his new friends before heading off.

"Which one was that? The scanners? The control room? The factory one by chance? You draw so many I can never keep count." Secretly Ulrich saw Andrew's drawings as a waste of time; then again he never was the artistic type besides martial arts.

"The scanners, I've got the other two you mentioned in my sketch book." Andrew still carried his handy sketch book around with him wherever he went. It was because of his love of art that he had finally found friends and discovered the super computer, so he had made a promise to keep it on his person almost at all times to remind of him that.

As they walked across campus, they came across Jim the P.E teacher. As usual he had his white sweat band and red kit on as well as the plaster just below his left eye stuck on diagonally that never seemed to go away.

"Belpois, just the man I wanted to see. I just wanted to check that you will be attending my lesson tomorrow, which of course would be the first time this term."

Jeremy froze on the spot.

"Errr…"

"Good! It's time I stretched that bag of bones you call a body into something like Ulrich's here, strong and athletic." He noticed Andrew's sketch book under his arm.

"I see you're still doing that artwork Fairbrace. You know, I used to be bit of an artist myself."

The group could smell a rat.

"You used to be an artist Jim?" Andrew asked him, not believing him in the slightest.

"Oh sure, back when I was in the army. It was in Iraq where I was commissioned behind enemy lines with the rest of the platoon; that was until the… well, I'd rather not talk about it." Jim's catch phrase came back to bite them as usual.

Jim's stories would become more and more ludicrous by the day. If they were to believe him then in his youth he had been everything from a cosmonaut to a fireman. A bad P.E Teacher, now that they could believe.

"Right then, I won't keep you any longer, some people have a P.E lesson to prepare for and Jeremy is looking forward to it, aren't you Belpois?" Jeremy shrugged, causing Jim to frown at him and walk away.

Students were starting to flood the campus now as they all prepared to go home or back to their dorm.

"Let's get back to the room before Sissi shows up." Ulrich said miserably with his hands in his pockets.

"Next time she shows up just tell her to pi-"

"Oh, Ulrich dear!" Sissi cut Andrew off.

"What does she want this time?" Ulrich sighed.

"So I was walking through town yesterday and a movie at the cinema caught my eye and I thought it would be so romantic if we could both go and see it together."

The two members of the Sissi fan club, Herb and Nicholas, still followed her around. Herb looked less than impressed about Sissi's desire to watch the film with Ulrich.

"Sorry Sissi, I'd loved to go with you but, oh wait, no I wouldn't. I'd rather shove hot onions in my eyes." Ulrich looked away and grabbed the door handle to the dormitory.

"Oh not so fast. If you don't go with me tomorrow afternoon then I'll just tell my father the principle about all the times you have snuck off campus this month. That goes for the rest of your little gang."

It looked like Ulrich had no choice. One's again, Ulrich would have to take one for the team.

"Why does X.A.N.A ruin my life so much?" Ulrich asked under his breath.

"Fine, I see you're stupid… I mean, I'll see the movie with you." Ulrich stared at the floor.

"Oh that is just great! I have a new dress and everything! I'll meet you at the school gate at four! See you then!" She walked away with her stalkers and waved. Ulrich reluctantly waved back.

"Ulrich, you know how much we appreciate you and what you do for us." Jeremy tried to take the heat of them.

"Save it, I didn't have much of a choice anyway." Ulrich was now even more glum than he usually was, like every second, of every day.

"I vote we throw her in one of the scanners and let X.A.N.A tear her to pieces." Andrew acted out pulling her apart.

"Err… I think her father might miss her if we did that." Jeremy ruined the idea.

"Or if he has any sense he'll give us a medal." Ulrich finally got to open the door and enter the dormitory.

Odd was already laying in a star shape across his bed fast asleep, in fact he had reached his room before Sissi had shown up, slipping past Jim when the group could not. Nothing got in the way of Odd and his food or his sleep, except perhaps Tetris or his Tamagotchi.

Ulrich decided, rather than interrupting Odd's nap, to follow the two into Jeremy's room. His room was still a mess. His poster of Albert Einstein above his bed was starting to show crinkles in the corners. Andrew had printed off a target and stuck it up on the back of Jeremy's room door (when he wasn't looking) and Jeremy had decided to keep it. It acted both as a target for Jeremy's stress ball when his materialisation programs tests failed and for Andrew's foam arrows and bow which he had bought to practice for Lyoko trips. Jeremy sat at his desk, Ulrich sat on the side of the bed and Andrew decided to lie down across it. He grabbed his small bow and foam arrow and started tinkering with them.

"I think we've been going to Lyoko far too often thanks to X.A.N.A. It's starting to change us." Andrew said.

"How can you tell?" Jeremy span round and asked him.

Andrew gave a simple answer. In a split second he armed one foam arrow into his bow and shot it backwards. It ricocheted off the ceiling and landed perfectly on Jeremy's head. Andrew hadn't even been looking and was facing away from him.

"Please reframe from doing that again…" Jeremy joked.

"He has a point though. You've been too tired to work on Aelita's program for the last few days, Odd's always tired, if that's a change at all from the usual, and…" Ulrich hesitated.

"And you and Yumi have been fighting again." Andrew finished the sentence for him.

"Don't talk about me and Yumi." Ulrich snapped back.

Andrew sat up and looked at Jeremy. Jeremy did the same thing

"You know you should just talk to her and clear things up. I'm surprised neither of you have made a move yet." Andrew smiled at him.

"What…? A move on what?" Ulrich panicked.

"Oh nothing, just a move on the fact you are both crazy about each other!" Andrew and Jeremy laughed.

"We are not! Well… I don't know how she feels…"

"Yes you do. She feels the same way. That's why you're both stuck in the friend zone and can't open the door. This ain't Lyoko, you can't expect Jeremy to enter a code and the door swings open for you, you have to try." Andrew imitated a door opening with his hands.

Ulrich was starting to get angry with the two boys.

"And what do you know about it? Just a month ago you didn't even know what it felt like to have a friend, let alone lov… like some… oh whatever!"

Ulrich stood up and headed towards the door.

"That hurts Ulrich." Andrew decided not to mention it from now on while he's in a mood.

"Besides, what gives you the right to lecture me when you won't admit the same thing to Aelita." He was addressing Jeremy now.

"What? That's different! I care about her in a protective sense. You know X.A.N.A would have full access to Earth if Aelita was deleted…" Jeremy was blushing as much as Ulrich was now.

"Rubbish. Yeah she's virtual, but that doesn't stop you from thinking about her the same way I do about Yumi… well the way you think I think about Yumi." Even Ulrich was starting to confuse himself.

"Well that's settled! Ulrich, you tell Yumi how you really feel and don't botch it up like you usually do and Jeremy, you confess to Aelita how you feel about her through Skype or whatever you use to talk to her." They both just stared at him.

"Say what!" They shouted in unison.

"Who put you in charge?" Jeremy asked Andrew.

Instead of answering, he simply stood up, grabbed his sketchbook and the art work he had left in the room and walked out the door, muttering behind him as he left.

"Think it over tonight. As for me, I'm going home." Andrew left the door open behind him for Ulrich.

"Can you believe him? I'm starting to wonder who our real enemy is!" Ulrich complained to Jeremy. Jeremy just shrugged, too embarrassed to say anything else.

Before they could continue, Jeremy's computer monitor flickered into life, displaying Jeremy's pink haired love interest.

"Hi Jeremy. What are you up to? Your face is all red." She asked.

"Nothing!" They both replied.

Andrew was sitting on his bed as he usually did after school, surrounded by various sketches and other pieces of art work. He looked at his now completed drawing of the super computer. It was the drawing that had started it all for him and it always put a smile on his face. Other subjects were scattered across his bed, such as the completed colour pencil drawing of Aelita, the rest of the gang huddling up outside the Gymnasium, Odd snoring his head off whilst lying on the floor of his room and another showing Jim whilst explain his past life as a lawyer, just before stating that he'd rather not talk about it.

He kept the pictures of the super computer hidden from his family but the others he showed off like prizes. His parents were so relieved that he had finally come out of himself, and it was all thanks to Jeremy and the others, not to mention a certain super computer. His dad's role in his latest movie was also going well and thinking about it reminded Andrew of the interview he gave for Milly and Tamia explaining about his dad's work. The interview itself was to be released in the next issue of the academy newspaper. That would make for… interesting reading in the morning. Andrew also thought about how amusing it should be to see Jeremy attempt Jim's P.E lesson.

"Try programming yourself out of that one Jeremy."


	2. Chapter 2 - A day in the life

The sun was rising over a cloudless sky; the dematerialisation program was almost finished and the weekend was just over the horizon, but none of this could keep Jeremy in a good mood. The class stood outside in their P.E uniforms eager for Jim to get under way; this was the only lesson Jeremy dreaded and had no hesitation in skipping. His P.E kit included full tracksuit bottoms, unlike most other students who wore shorts so the heat didn't help his attitude.

"Right, listen up!" Jim began the lesson. "I said listen up!"

The group became silent, apart from Odd who muttered something to Ulrich.

"Now a lot of you are probably thinking that triple jump is easy, I assure you it's not! If you ever want to be as good as that, um, Usain Farah!" The class just looked at each other in unsurprised disappointment.

"I think you mean Usain Bolt Jim, and besides he's a runner" Ulrich corrected him.

"Oh, yes of course! Now… what was I saying? Oh yes, triple jump is a test of concentration, fitness and… jumping. I want everyone to get into pairs for this. One jumps and the other measures."

Everyone scattered around as quickly as possible to be paired up with friends. Odd went with Ulrich, much to his annoyance and Andrew paired up with Yumi, but the class pairs left Jeremy all on his own. Jim was so used to him not turning up that the group was always usually an even number.

"If you want Jeremy, you can pair up with Yumi and I'll go on my own." Andrew offered to get Jeremy back with his friends.

"No that's fine. I'll be alright." He put one hand up to stop Andrew from moving away and kept the other in his pocket.

"If only Aelita was here." Jeremy muttered to himself and then began to sulk.

"Belpois! I said pairs!" Jim shouted at him.

"The class is an odd number Jim, I don't have a partner."

Jim didn't know what to do for a moment.

"Is that so? Well in that case you'll be working with me."

Jeremy eyes burst open.

"I can always go and do some work on my laptop, you know, keep the class an even number, just how you organised it yesterday and all that." Jeremy pointed over to his backpack.

"Oh no you don't! You're joining in with the others whether you like it or not!" Jim put his hand on Jeremy's shoulder and led him towards the sand pit.

"As you are so keen to get this lesson over and done with you will be the first to jump."

Jeremy looked down at the pit. The sand formed the messy shape of various students that had landed previously. The sand still had the faint outline of Odd's face formed in it from the previous day's long jump.

"Right Jeremy, you stand on the white line and take twelve paces back, I'll measure your jump distance." Jim was bending down and rolling out the tape measure.

"You know Jim, if you show us a demonstration first then I'm sure we will all get the hang of it much quicker." Jeremy smiled at the P.E teacher.

For a second Jim actually looked nervous.

"Err, alright. That's not a bad idea Jeremy. Alright you lot gather round and let the master show you all how it's done." Jim stood up to the line, giving Jeremy the perfect opportunity to back away and fade into the rest of the group.

"Five euros says he lands face first." Odd whispered to Ulrich.

"You're on."

Jim took ten spaces back, lost count and then took three more. He looked at the eager school kids. This wasn't going to end well. Jim sprinted towards the sand pit. He counted his steps to time his jump perfectly, but it didn't go as well as he hoped. He lost his footing on the last hop and fell towards the ground. He span in the air and landed straight into the pit on his backside. The entire class started laughing, much to Jim's annoyance and embarrassment.

"That print's going to be there for a while!" Odd referred to the print of Jim's backside made in the sand as he held his sides in laughter.

"Yeah I hope it doesn't rain, we might all drown." Ulrich added to the joke.

"Come on guys be fair, landing on your butt the wrong way round is an achievement in long jump!" Andrew joined in.

"If you guys think it's so funny then why don't we give you a try? Della Robbia!" Jim shouted as he rubbed his backside in pain.

The group grew silent and a look of feared shot over Odd's face. Ulrich pushed him forward towards the pit. He gulped and took position on the running track. He was usually good at most things in Gym class but since falling flat on his face the day before during long jump he had grown a fearful respect for the sand pit.

"Five euros says he lands face first." Ulrich whispered to Yumi.

Thirteen steps back and then he was off. Granted he made it further than Jim, but he still botched the third hop. Odd yelled in his wimpiest voice, held out his arms and landed into the sand, adding another print of his face.

Once again the students laughed at the unfortunate, spikey haired boy. He picked himself up, wiped the sand off and moped.

"Not so easy is it Della Robbia?" Even Jim was mocking him now. Odd simply put his hands in his pockets and sulked his way back to the group.

"Right! Who's next!?"

The lesson continued for the next hour. The level of skill varied massively throughout the group, but of course Ulrich was the one to make the furthest jump. Yumi wasn't too bad herself, but Odd and Andrew were complete disasters. Sport was not Andrew's forte and on his first jump he tripped and didn't even make it to the pit. Odd eventually improved, but not before adding an arm and butt print to the sandpits collection.

"What is it with me today?" Odd grew more frustrated with every attempt, whilst Andrew was used to being crap at sports so he didn't mind.

The lesson finally ended when Odd's rage could grow no higher.

"Good work today class, even if most of you aren't anywhere near being as good as Ulrich. We'll revisit this next lesson."

"Oh, hell no!" Odd was being pushed over the edge.

Ulrich gloated as he put his arm over his sulking friends shoulder.

"Oh don't worry Odd, maybe all these recent X.A.N.A attacks have knocked your sense of balance out!"

Odd glared at him.

"Speaking of which, where's Jeremy?" Yumi pointed out the absence of their spectacle wearing friend.

"Ha! He must have snuck out of class when Jim took his tumble." Odd cheered up a bit. "He truly is worthy of my graceful sneaking skills!"

"Odd you're about as graceful as a combine harvester through a field of sunflowers." Ulrich joked, causing Yumi to giggle and Odd to sulk again.

"I bet he's talking to a certain, virtual girl again." Andrew was spot on. Andrew was also hatching a plan…

"You know what guys, I'm going to go back to his room. I've… something to ask him." Andrew was already walking to the dorms.

"I'm going to go get changed out of my kit and catch up on some maths homework, I'm way behind and if I get another F my parents are going to come snooping to find out why." Yumi picked up her bag on the outside benches.

"I'll go with you… umm… you know, to the library, after we've both changed, in separate rooms. You know what I mean." Ulrich's cheeks grew bright red.

"Err… ok, why not? As long as you don't kick off with that attitude again."

"Attitude? I don't have an attitude!" Ulrich shouted.

"Really? Than what do you call this!?"

"Oh you don't understand…" The two students' voices faded into the distance as they headed to the changing rooms. All of the group had dispersed, leaving Odd standing all alone.

"Hey, what about me!? Fine, I'll go play with Kiwi. At least he respects my company."

Odd's stomach rumbled.

"Actually, I think I'll go get a snack first."

Andrew made his way through the empty corridor towards his friend Jeremy's room. He thought back to the first time he stepped foot through that elusive corridor. The secrets hiding there amongst the other ordinary students, locked away in the minds of the Lyoko Warriors and Ulrich's diary. He never did tell them that he had read it as he assumed Jeremy wouldn't be too pleased at Ulrich keeping such a thing. It was a security hazard for their secret, but right then didn't seem the best time to say. The group was tired after so many recent attacks and Yumi and Ulrich were at each other's throats. The group didn't really know why but Ulrich had been acting strange.

Andrew opened the door and low and behold there was Jeremy, typing away like a mad man with Aelita's image looking at him with an appreciative smile. She understood the hard work he put into bringing her to Earth and was slightly worried for Jeremy's health. He rarely slept and pulling all-nighters was more common than having a good night's sleep.

"Any closer Einstein?" Andrew greeted him, they were both still in their sports uniforms.

"Huh? Oh, no. It's always crashing in the same place."

Andrew approached the screen and made a greeting smile to Aelita. She replied with a smile herself in Andrew's direction. That always made Andrew amazed and slightly freaked out that an Artificial Intelligence could see his smile through the webcam and respond.

"You know Jeremy, I haven't forgotten what I told you and Ulrich yesterday." Andrew addressed Jeremy.

Jeremy ignored him for a second as he concentrated.

"Really, because I have."

Andrew tutted and Aelita giggled.

"You know…" Andrew moved to whisper into his ear. "... about you telling Aelita how you really feel."

Jeremy looked directly in front of himself wide-eyed. He was embarrassed the day before about Andrew bringing it up but now she was inches away from them. Why did Andrew have to do this to him?

"…Yeah, I'm not gonna do that." He carried on typing.

"Come on! You know you want to. It's the next step!" Andrew tried to persuade him.

"No!" Jeremy answered sharply.

"She'd really appreciate it."

"No!"

"She might agree!"

"No dammit!" Jeremy punched the desk lightly, scaring Aelita a bit.

"Uhhh, fine them. You know… I didn't want to have to do this, but you've played my hand. If you don't say it then you'll have to start from scratch!" Andrew was standing on the other side of the room now.

That last sentence caught Jeremy's attention. He swivelled round slowly, only to see Andrew grinning and holding Jeremy's notes for the materialisation program over Jeremy's paper shredder.

"My notes! You put them back! I've been working for over a year on them." Jeremy got up to retrieve them but Andrew moved them closer.

Jeremy panicked, froze on the spot and put out his hands.

"Please, Andrew don't do anything to them. I'm begging you!" The plan was working.

"And why are you begging me Jeremy? Because you know how much they mean to you. And why is that?"

Jeremy was stuck. He had no choice but he had tried this himself so many times and he always cracked up at the last minute.

"…I can't do it Andrew."

Andrew pulled the notes away from the shredder and handed them back to Jeremy.

"That's exactly what Ulrich is going to say to me in a few minutes. If you can fight off X.A.N.A for an entire year, program a virtual being into reality and still have time to get a 98 per cent grade average then you can do this to."

Right now Jeremy was more frightened then he had ever been, even during X.A.N.A's most disastrous attacks.

"What are you guys talking about?" Aelita asked from the screen.

Jeremy took one deep breath and sat back down.

"I'll be just outside." Andrew opened the door back up and stepped into the corridor. He put his ear to the door to hear the whole thing.

"Aelita… do you know what I'm working so hard to free you from Lyoko?"

Aelita was still smiling away, so innocently.

"It's because with me free, you can finally shut down the super computer and destroy X.A.N.A." She was half right.

"Your right about that, but it's also because of something else…"

Aelita grew curious.

"What is it Jeremy?"

Butterflies in stomach, red cheeks, close to hyperventilating. When this was all over with he was going to kill Andrew for this.

"I enjoy talking to you each day, and teaching you about Earth." Each sentence was biting him.

"I enjoy talking to you too." She was still smiling away.

"And… 'Come on you can do this'…. The real reason I want to bring you to Earth with us is… because I care about you."

Aelita's smile turned into a neutral look.

"But more than just a friend." Jeremy couldn't say anymore. He hoped he'd got the message across.

Aelita looked at him for a moment and stared into his eyes. Jeremy was petrified to hear her response. When she finally did respond he was relieved. Her neutral face became the hugest smile he had ever seen her make. Andrew peeped through the door and saw her response. He walked away from the room.

"Get in there!" Andrew praised himself and punched his left palm with his right hand.

"Right, next stop Ulrich!"

When Andrew had made his way outside he could see Odd heading away from the cafeteria with a huge amount of bags of crisps in his arms. That was definitely Odd's idea of a light snack.

"Hey Odd! Do you know where Ulrich is?"

" *Munch*… yeah, he's gone to the changing ro… um the library with Yumi." Andrew could barely understand him through the mountain of crisps in his mouth.

"Errr… ok. See you later. Save me some crisps for later would you?"

"No! You want crisps *Munch* you get your own." Odd was so protective of his food.

Andrew made a quick stop to the changing rooms to get back into his blue jacket and jeans before heading out to the library, and Ulrich's love life. The library was mostly quite apart from a few mutterings here and there. Right at the end on the usual table Andrew could see Yumi scratching away in her maths book with her calculator beside her. Ulrich was sitting right next to her, pretending to read a book. Andrew approached silently from behind them.

"You're not fooling anyone Ulrich." Andrew told him quietly.

"What?" Was all responded with.

"You're book is upside down." Andrew was right. Pythagoras theorem is difficult enough without attempting an upside down read.

Ulrich put the book down and pretended to rummage through his bag.

"Can I talk to you for a second, alone? You don't mind do you Yumi?"

"Of course not. Take him away if you want." Yumi and Ulrich were still fighting.

"Thanks." Ulrich responded glumly.

The two boys walked off to a secluded area of the room between two book shelves.

"What do you want Andrew because I'm kind of busy here?" Ulrich kept his voice down so Yumi couldn't hear.

"What are you doing here Ulrich?" Andrew face showed no emotion.

"What? Is this a joke Andrew because I haven't got the time?" Ulrich was gloomy as usual, more so today because of his 'situation' with Yumi.

"Please Ulrich just answer the question honestly."

Ulrich stared at him and Andrew let out a short grin before returning to his neutral face.

"You know why I'm here. I'm going to apologise to Yumi for acting so hateful recently."

Andrew wasn't fooled.

"No, that's half the truth and we both know it. You're here to apologise to Yumi, and, to tell her how you really feel about her."

Ulrich near enough choked at that point.

"You what!? I'm not doing that!" Ulrich shouted in a screeching, yet whispering like voice.

"Look I've just been through all this with Jeremy and he's admitted how he feels to Aelita. Now it's your turn!"

Ulrich looked shocked.

"Bloody hell, really? How'd he do that?" Ulrich was talking a bit louder than he probably should have been.

"With my help! I think you'll find I'm quite persuasive." Andrew smiled.

"You're not persuasive, you just blackmail us. Look at how you got into the group!"

"…Yeah… let's forget about that." Andrew still regretted what he did but it was his only choice. "Just go over there and tell  
her."

Their conversation continued for another ten minutes. Ulrich was a hell of a lot harder to persuade than Jeremy, just as Andrew had anticipated. In the end though he got there.

"Alright, alright! If it will shut you up!" Ulrich shouted, pulling the attention of a few students towards them. Noticeably Yumi ignored them the whole time.

"Thank you Ulrich! You won't regret it."

"I better not or you're dead!"

Andrew gulped and then sighed when Ulrich walked towards his crush. Andrew listened from behind a closer book shelf.

"Umm… Yumi. I want to tell you something." Ulrich began nervously.

"I hope it's an apology at least." She didn't look at him, she just carried on writing sums.

"It is… I'm sorry I've acted like such a jerk recently. It's no excuse but… my parents have been talking about divorce."

Yumi looked away from her book and looked at him with sympathy.

"Divorce? Ulrich why didn't you tell us?" Yumi asked him softly.

"It's nothing official, but they have been threatening each other with it and I think it's starting to stick. I didn't want to say anything…"

Yumi stared at him.

"You know, I want to apologise. I should have been more understanding or at least asked you if something was wrong before snapping." Yumi looked back at her book ashamed.

"No, no! Don't apologise! It's me who should be doing that."

"Don't worry Ulrich, apology accepted." She smiled at him and then carried on working.

Ulrich grew silent for a minute before feeling a book hit him sharply in the back.

"Ow." He whispered. He looked on the floor to find a copy of 'Dating for Dummies'.

He frowned at Andrew who peeped out from the book shelf and gave him a thumbs up.

"Phase two." Andrew whispered to him.

Ulrich sighed. Might as well get it over with.

"Umm, actually there was something else I wanted to tell you."

"…What's that?" She looked at him this time. She grew nervous herself. She had wanted to tell Ulrich how she felt as well, but was Ulrich about to do just that?

"You know that we are good friends, right?" Ulrich continued.

"You mean our group, or us?" Yep, he was going to do it.

"I mean us… well… I think of you as more than just a friend."

"You mean… as a… umm." Yumi couldn't finish.

"As a… well I… really..." Ulrich couldn't say it.

"Oh for God sake just get on with it!" Andrew shouted from behind the bookshelf, drawing the attention of the whole library.

"Sorry!" He apologised.

"Alright Yumi here goes… I really like you, and I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me…" he'd done it, at last.

Andrew crossed his fingers for her response.

"Ok." She answered nervously.

"We have lift off." Andrew pointed to the sky.

"Really?" Ulrich was ecstatic.

"Yeah, I will!"

They hugged each other there and then.

"Get a room!" Andrew shouted to them.

"You just shut up Andrew!" Ulrich said to him jokingly.

Andrew skulked back behind the bookshelf.

At last the Lyoko warriors were open to each other. Ulrich and Yumi's arguing stopped and Jeremy was finally free of his nervous burden. Jeremy and Odd made their way into the library not soon after. Odd still had two large bags of crisps with him and Jeremy was changed out of his P.E Kit and had the largest grin on his face. They sat down next to the new couple.

"What are you so happy about Jeremy? Finally proclaim your feelings to Aelita." Yumi asked him.

"Well actually, yes, I did!" Jeremy was as glum as anything.

"Speaking of proclaiming feelings, Yumi and I are going out."

Jeremy and Odd were opened-mouthed.

"That's great!" Jeremy answered.

"About time *Munch*" Odd added. "I can't wait to see the look on Sissi's face when she hears! I'm thinking raging volcano!"

The group laughed at the thought.

"So what finally got you to pluck up the courage to tell her Jeremy?" Yumi asked him.

"Actually it was Andrew who helped."

"Yeah, he helped me as well." Ulrich glared.

"Ta da!" Andrew appeared from behind the bookshelf. "Who's the saviour?"

The group stared at him.

"No thank you's? Cheers." Andrew sat next to Odd and stole one of his crisps.

"Thanks Andrew. You should have seen Aelita's reaction when I told her. She was so excited and she didn't even understand why. The complexity of her programming reveals a bit more about itself every day!" Jeremy thanked him.

"You had to go and make it all techie didn't you?" Andrew answered. "Truth be told you were a lot easier to help than Ulrich. He was like trying to persuade a brick wall to fall over."

"Well now all you need to do is hitch Odd up with Kiwi and we're all sorted!" Yumi joked. The whole group minus Odd laughed.

"Well at least she didn't say Sissi." Andrew nicked another crisp from Odd just before he covered the bag with his arms as a shield.


	3. Chapter 3 - When Past confronts Present

The weekend was Odd's sort of time. Lying in until midday, not having to do any work and plenty of time for snacks; it was as if he was made for Saturdays.

"I swear your snoring gets louder every week Odd." Ulrich complained whilst getting dressed in the dorm. He knew Odd wouldn't hear him, he was too busy dreaming about God knows what nonsense. In the end his noise became too much and Ulrich resulted to throwing his pillow at his snoozing head. He hardly reacted to the impact but it was clear it had woken him up.

"…X.A. stolen my Cornetto…" Odd dribbled out as he fell back into reality.

"Oh dear, better get up and chase him then." Ulrich answered as he packed his bag with some snacks and his wallet, amongst others things.

"Maybe next week… where are you going?" Odd opened one eye to peep at Ulrich.

"I told you yesterday, Yumi and I are spending some time in town. Now do you want anything while we're there?"

"Really?" Odd opened both eyes and sat up at the offer.

"Nope." With that Ulrich opened the door and left with his backpack slung over one arm.

"How generous." Odd muttered sarcastically as his roommate left.

Down the corridor, another member of the group was just about to stir.

"Jeremy. Jeremy! You are dribbling on the keyboard again!" Aelita attempted to wake the exhausted lad.

He just about managed to pull his head away from the device with what little strength he had. Another all-nighter working on the materialisation program had finally brought him to breaking point.

"You know Jeremy, you can take a break for a week or two to get your strength back. Please don't hurt yourself on my account." Aelita wished he wouldn't push himself so hard for her expense. After all, she was only a computer program.

"Morning Aelita... haven't been working all night just felt sleepy." He yawned loudly and Aelita giggled.

"Besides, you know how important it is for me to bring you to Earth with us. With X.A.N.A gone we can finally live normal lives, and we can be together properly." His cheeks flushed slightly red after saying that.

"I know." She answered and gave him a cheeky wink.

Jeremy heard three knocks on the door.

"Are you up yet Jeremy or do you still have keyboard marks on your face again?" It was Ulrich's voice.

"No I'm up! Come in Ulrich."

"But you do have marks on your face Jeremy." Aelita informed him.

He wiped his face all embarrassed as Ulrich opened the door.

"Another all-nighter Einstein?" Ulrich closed the door behind him and lent against it.

"I just can't get the program to work past the same point. Every time it fails." Jeremy stood up and starting retrieving is usually daytime clothes from his wardrobe.

"He was up most of the night and looks exhausted Ulrich, I wish he would give himself a break before something bad happens."

Jeremy knew she was right but nothing was going to stop him from finishing. He had dreamed of her again that night. It was the same simple dream where they walked through the campus holding hands.

"Both of you know how important my work is. Until the materialisation program is working we are all in danger and what if something goes wrong while we're trying to deactivate a tower?" Jeremy was adamant on continuing his work.

"We take that risk every time we do it Jeremy. With Andrew in the group it's been a lot easier fending him off so please at least give yourself a few days rest from it." Ulrich attempted to persuade him.

"What was it you wanted by the way?" Jeremy changed the subject.

"Oh, umm, Yumi and I are leaving in ten minutes and we're wondered if you were going into town."

Jeremy thought for a moment.

"Nah. I think I'll stay here and work on the mat… on some maths homework, I've fallen behind a bit on next week's work."

Ulrich glared at him.

"You promise you're going to do maths?" Ulrich spoke in a fatherly tone.

"Yes, yes! Now you go and enjoy the film and whatever else you're doing. I'll be fine."

Ulrich left the room, knowing full well that it would take more than a polite conversation to slow down Jeremy's work.

"You know we both have a point Jeremy. I might be able to stay awake all through the night but you can't. Please, for me, just take a few days off to catch up on other work." Aelita sounded concerned and ever so slightly sad.

Jeremy was stubbornly determined to continue his work, but now he felt disarmed. If anyone else had said what Aelita had it wouldn't have made a difference, but she was his one weakness (besides sport of course!). He sighed.

"Alright. For you." He sounded down.

"Thank you Jeremy! I'll make it up to you." She smiled with her usual innocent grin. What she meant by that Jeremy had no idea.

The smell of freshly made toast was flowing through the kitchen air. Andrew never understood how delicious something as simple as buttered toast could be.

"It's nice to see you with a smile on your face." Andrew's dad snapped him out of his daydream.

"Since you met those friends of yours you've been like a different person." His mother added as she made her own toast.

"Nah, he's still the same pain in the arse!" His sister killed the mood. Andrew was too busy stuffing his face with toast to answer.

"Are you meeting any of them today?" Andrew's mother asked, sitting down for breakfast.

"Maybe. I think Yumi and Ulrich are going to the cinema later on, I don't know what Jeremy and Odd are doing." Andrew finally finishes his toast.

"Who's Aelita?" His sister asked with a smirk on her face.

Andrew was completely bewildered. How did she know that name?

"Who?" He pretended to be oblivious.

"I 'found' one of your drawings the other day and it's of a girl called Aelita. Is she your girlfriend?"

Andrew gulped. Well this was an odd situation. Quick as a flash, Andrew used the lie he had rehearsed in case of this very situation.

"No! She's a girl in a video game I've been playing with my friends."

His sister looked unconvinced.

"Oh Really? Then tell me what game she's from?"

Almost instantly Andrew responded.

"Lyoko Tower 2000."

Her smirk disappeared.

"Well I thought she looked a bit weird anyway. Who the hell has stupid pink hair like that?"

Andrew didn't know whether to be relieved or hit her. Aelita may have been a virtual program but his sister was still insulting a friend of his.

"Leave you brother alone." Their Mother said playfully.

"Whatever. I'm off to work. Bye Mum." She kissed her mother on the cheek, followed by her dad.

"Bitch." Andrew said under his breath.

Andrew sat there for a while and read one of the school books he had in his bag. His dad gave him the occasionally nervous glance, as if he was trying to say something but couldn't get it out.

"You alright Dad?" Andrew caught on.

"I don't want to put a downer on anything Andrew but, you do remember that this is only a temporary move?"

The crushing realisation hit Andrew harder than any X.A.N.A crab could. His dad's line of work as an actor meant they were constantly on the move. He thought that this one might be the last and that they could finally settle down, and have some friends at last.

"I know… but couldn't we stay here at least a couple of years?" Andrew was almost pleading with him.

"Maybe, but if I get another good offer after this film then we will probably have to move again."

Everything that he had been through could be destroyed. He would lose the friends he was destined to find, nay, be saved by. Not to mention the fact that the team would be one Lyoko Warrior down. He couldn't face the thought of praying every night for his friends not to make a mistake or let X.A.N.A get the upper hand. All it took was one victory and X.A.N.A could control the world. His friends were the last line of defence between X.A.N.A and the destruction of domination of the human race, whichever one he was planning.

Andrew was beginning to feel something he hadn't for over a month. The anger he had embraced as a shield was rising back.

"No."

His father put his newspaper down on the table.

"Sorry, Son?"

"I'm not leaving Kadic."

"I'm sorry Andrew put if I get another good offer then we don't have a choice."

Andrew stood up, grabbed his back and walked away. Before heading for the front door he turned round.

"We always have a choice."

Before he could leave his mother intercepted him.

"Where are you going?" She asked all curious.

"Out. I need to clear my head." He brushed past her.

"You're not going anywhere unless you tell me where you're going!"

Andrew turned round sharply and looked at her with the same glare he gave Jeremy in the corridor a month ago, and to all those bullies in his past that had ever wronged him.

"I'll be back, later." He grabbed the door handle, swung the door open forcing the hinges to their last ounce of strength and slammed the door behind him.

It was a huge overreaction, but his parents were used to his temper. They knew what he had been through, but still it was no excuse. He didn't even look back as he headed towards the town, his bag slung over his back. That conversation he had with his parents was one he would regret for the rest of his life…

As the boy stormed off into the distance, another pair of eyes watched him leave. Hiding in a nearby alleyway he waited to follow when he could not be seen. The newest Lyoko Warrior had proven himself unsaved. There was still a spark of his past waiting to pounce and it would not take much to push it into life, but this boy was about to suffer beyond his mind's limits.

Andrew had calmed down a bit since his departure from the house. He had no idea where to go or what to do until he remembered his friends. They were his one bit of comfort before and he knew they would be again. He made his way to the cinema to see if he could meet up with Ulrich and Yumi. In failing that he would head back to Kadic; at least Odd's stupidity would cheer him up.

He pulled his wallet out of his bag to see if he had enough money for a ticket if he was to see the film. Luckily he did, unluckily one coin decided to leave his wallet and roll away into a nearby alley.

"For God's sake, what next." The frustration was rising again.

He left the path and retrieved the two euro coin. He was about to leave when he heard a voice.

"You should be more careful with your possessions." The voice was familiar, way too familiar. It was his own.

Andrew turned on the spot and almost gasped from what he saw. Standing in front of him, simply staring back at him was an exact copy of himself. Everything was the same, from his looks to his clothes.

"…What are you?" Andrew had a faint idea but didn't believe it to be possible.

"You are going to be trouble for me Andrew. You are something I cannot risk."

The other Andrew appeared to teleport directly in front of him before the real Andrew could answer. With no time to react he received a knee to his stomach. He was winded and in agony on his own knees. No normal human other than a champion fighter could dish out such a strong hit. With no effort at all the copy slowly grabbed Andrew by the throat and lifted him into the air. He was between the copy and the side of the cinema. Andrew grabbed the copy's arm for some sort of support. He couldn't release the copy's grip and every kick he threw to its chest made little effect. Suddenly the copy's clothes faded into a different colour. His jacket flowed from blue and grey to black and dark orange.

In his eyes Andrew could see his new enemy. The copy's pupils sparked into the eye of X.A.N.A. With one fell swoop X.A.N.A hurled the boy into the opposite wall. The impact knocked the helpless boy out. X.A.N.A looked over the boy and transformed back into his exact likeness. Killing this boy would be a blow to the enemy, but using him would be a far better impact.

"Are you in there Jeremy? I'm bored!" Odd was at Jeremy's door with another arm full of snacks.

"Yeah, come in!" Jeremy had completely ignored Ulrich and Aelita's advice and was still working on the program. He had broken his promise to Aelita.

"Still working on that? I thought you said you were nearly done." Odd spoke as he picked out which bag of crisps to scoff first.

"Every time I make any progress another mistake crops up."

Before he could continue, Aelita appeared on his computer screen and he quickly minimized the materialisation program.

"Jeremy, X.A. woken up again, I've found an activated tower."

It looked like Odd's snacks would have to wait.

"Thanks Aelita. Odd let's get to the factory." He left his chair and grabbed his bag.

"But I'm starving!" Odd complained.

"Then take the crisps with you! I'm sure X.A.N.A won't mind!" Jeremy left the room, leaving Odd to sulk and choose one bag of crisps to crush into his pocket.

"See you on Lyoko Aelita." Odd gave a farewell to his virtual friend before she closed down the screen.

The two boys were running down the corridor whilst avoiding the other remaining students.

"I'll call the others and warn them." Jeremy pulled out his mobile phone from his pocket.

"Ulrich's not going to be happy about missing his date!" Odd scrunched the crisp packet further into his pocket.

Before Jeremy could call Yumi or Ulrich, he received a call himself from the duo.

"Hello? I was just about to call you two actually. X.A. on the attack."

Yumi answered him on the other end.

"We know. We've just found Andrew unconscious in the alleyway by the cinema. He looks really hurt and we can't wake him up."

Jeremy was afraid of this. He didn't think it would be long before X.A.N.A would target his new bane.

"Ok you stay with him and try to get him to the factory if you can, Odd and I are on our way there now."

The last target was in sight. The clone scanned the street for any witnesses. To its luck it was surprisingly quite for a Saturday morning. In front of him stood Andrew's home, and whilst looking exactly like him, his family would never suspect a thing…


End file.
